I read recently that there is no such thing as a "Perfect Job." You have to make it perfect. Last week I was at a counselor's luncheon. A man next to me said he had been watching my college for openings. I told him that my job had been the last advertised job...three and a half years ago and that had been a part-time position.
When I began my job, I started with a couple of duties. I advised students and I managed a job postings board. There were times during the year that were really slow. I began teaching myself about writing resumes. I read books and I joined an organization. Whenever I could, I would get students to leave their resumes with me to critique. Eventually I was teaching workshops on resume writing. I also began learning about how to interview and other parts of the job search.
I had been trying to figure out what I should do with my life for so long; I had read a lot of books on the subject. One day I got an email that described an career decision activity that I thought it looked like fun. I emailed the director of a new program at the college and offered to come do it with her class. That initiative has lead to me teaching career decision to about one thousand students a year!
Because I made my job bigger than it was, my college created a full time position for me over a year ago. Because my job is so much bigger than me, this year I get an assistant.
Like many people, I sometimes long for more freedom. Yet, I also realize that I have had so much good experience through this position. I could have easily just done my job and waited for other people to think of things for me to do. But it is so much better to think of things that I want to do myself.
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